Tuesday, January 31, 2017

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) created the State and
Local Anti-Terrorism Training (SLATT) Program in 1996 to provide specialized
counterterrorism (CT) training to state, local, and tribal law enforcement
personnel. This report assesses the nature and value of this training.

BJA’s SLATT Program comprises four components:

1.the
Institute for Intergovernmental Research, which serves as the technical service
provider;

2.U.S.
government agencies and organizations that assist with planning and
coordination and may contribute expertise;

3.instructors
who teach the training modules; and

4.a web-based
educational component.

The purpose of this study was to gauge the need for SLATT
based on potential terrorist threats, both foreign and domestic. The
researchers assessed how SLATT is organized, conducted a survey of five SLATT
investigative/intelligence workshops and train-the-trainer workshops, and
conducted a cost-benefit analysis.

A majority of participants who responded to the SLATT survey
reported that counterterrorism was a major responsibility of their position,
suggesting that SLATT is attracting law enforcement officers. Participants in
the investigative/intelligence workshops had similar training goals to those
who participated in the train-the-trainer workshops, which included improving
their understanding of international and domestic terrorist threats, enhancing
their CT investigative skills, and meeting other law enforcement professionals.

While SLATT workshops are offered at no cost, the study
found that law enforcement agencies incur modest costs, such as travel expenses
and covering shifts while officers are away attending SLATT. Agencies that host
SLATT also incur some cost.

The researchers found that participants most value three-day
training less than 100 miles away from home. Participants seek both domestic
and international terrorist topics.

The study suggests that developing CT training is an
investment by agencies, and that officers must continually renew CT knowledge
and expertise as new personnel fill CT positions. This suggests that there is
an ongoing need for CT training that is low-cost, such as SLATT provides.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz, 20, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to provide material support and resources to
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist
organization, and transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure.

The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney
General for National Security Mary B. McCord, U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler
for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and Special Agent in Charge Michael
Harpster of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. The plea was entered before Chief
U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner.

“Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz conspired to provide material support
to ISIL by aiding individuals in their pursuit of traveling overseas to join
the designated foreign terrorist organization and by using social media to
propagate ISIL’s threats to injure U.S. service members,” said Acting Assistant
Attorney General McCord. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is
counterterrorism, and we will remain vigilant in our efforts to hold
accountable those who seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist
organizations and threaten members of our military.”

“The security of the American People is the highest priority
for our office and the Department of Justice,” said U.S. Attorney Brandler.
“While we cannot eliminate terrorism completely, we can bring to justice those
responsible for providing material support and resources to terrorist groups
and for spreading hate and destruction in our communities and abroad.
Thankfully, the defendant’s activities were disrupted by the FBI and the Joint
Terrorism Task Force and justice will be served in this case.”

"As evidenced here, ISIL loyalists need not travel to
the field of battle to threaten lives and do harm," said Special Agent in
Charge Harpster. "An American citizen provided material support to
terrorists from American soil, while enjoying all the rights and privileges
scorned by ISIL. We are gratified that Mr. Aziz is being brought to justice for
these acts."

According to the filed court documents, on Dec. 22, 2015,
Aziz was charged in an indictment with conspiring and attempting to provide
material support to ISIL (Counts 1 and 2). A superseding indictment was
returned on May 18, 2016, which added Solicitation to Commit a crime of
violence (Count 3) and transmitting a communication containing a threat to
injure (Count 4).

According to the superseding indictment, from July 2014 to
Dec. 17, 2015, Aziz knowingly conspired to provide, provided and attempted to
provide material support, including personnel and services, to ISIL. The
superseding indictment also alleges that during the same time period, Aziz
solicited, commanded, induced and endeavored to persuade others to kill and
attempt to kill officers and employees of the United States. The superseding
indictment further alleges that he knowingly tweeted the names, addresses,
photographs and military branches of approximately 100 U.S. service members to
followers and viewers of his Twitter account. The communication also contained
threats to injure the service members, stating “kill them in their own lands,
behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their street
thinking that they are safe.”

Aziz pledged his allegiance to the leader of ISIL and used
at least 71 different Twitter accounts to advocate violence against the U.S.
and its citizens, to disseminate ISIL propaganda and to espouse pro-ISIL views.
On at least three occasions, Aziz allegedly used his Twitter accounts and other
electronic communication services to assist persons seeking to travel to and
fight for ISIL. In one instance, Aziz allegedly acted as an intermediary between
a person in Turkey and several well-known members of ISIL.

Aziz passed location information, including maps and a
telephone number, between these ISIL supporters. A search of a
tactical/military style backpack located in Aziz’s closet identified five
loaded M4-style high-capacity magazines, a modified straight edge knife, a
thumb drive, medication, flashlights, a toothbrush, sunflower seeds, a lighter,
nail clippers, fingerless gloves, a pocket watch and a black balaclava, which
is like a ski mask and similar to those worn by ISIL supporters.

The maximum penalty provided in the statute for Count 1,
Conspiracy to Provide Material Support and Resources to a Designated Foreign
Terrorist Organization, is 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of
supervised release of up to life and a $100 special assessment. The maximum
penalty for Count 4, Transmitting a Communication Containing a Threat to
Injure, is five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised
release of three years and a $100 special assessment.

The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and
is provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, the
sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the
advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task
Force (JTTF), which includes the Pentagon Force Protection Agency and the
Pennsylvania State Police, with assistance from the Harrisburg Bureau of
Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daryl F. Bloom and Trial Attorneys Robert
Sander and Adam L. Small of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism
Section prosecuted the case.

Lone actor terrorists have raised new concerns about the
ability to prevent terrorist attacks when it is an individual seemingly acting
on his own.

In a recent report, researchers sought to examine whether
the trajectory toward acts of violence was similar for lone actor terrorists
and mass murderers. They found that they are very similar in their behaviors
before committing their crimes, but significant differences exist, including
the leaking of intent prior to a violent crime.